Users of Internet-enabled electronic devices, such as computers, tablets and smart phones, are increasingly interested in sharing media viewing and listening experiences with others. Sharing media content is relatively straightforward when the media content is available online (e.g. streaming video, web pages, quotes from scripts, downloadable music or videos) in which case the user can simply send electronic messages with links to the media content of interest. However, it is more difficult for a user to share information about or excerpts from media content as it is being broadcast. For example, if a viewer wants to share a quote from a TV sitcom or movie, that viewer would need to send an email, text, tweet or a social network update, or make one or many calls, to his or her friends with the pertinent quote. It is even harder, if at all possible, for a user to send a friend a link to, or a snippet of, or a quote from media content airing in real-time due to the lack of integration between the airing media content and whatever communication device is employed by the user to share information about the media content.
In other words, it is inefficient for users to share information related to media content they are viewing on TV (or the like) because sharing such information currently requires users to take some action beyond the viewing experience. Returning to the example above, a user attempting to share a quote from a TV sitcom on a social networking website would either have to type the quote or search for the text of the script online in order to locate the quote. Even if the text of the script is available online, selecting text on a touch screen display can be difficult because finger contact on a touch screen display can be imprecise. The task is further frustrated because the hands of a user often obscure the display.